Inside Slant

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November 05, 2018 at 9:27 pm.

Oliver’s success clouds situation at QB

The Georgia Tech quarterback controversy may have gotten a little thicker on Saturday.

TaQuon Marshall, the senior and team captain, was healthy and started the game — just like coach Paul Johnson said he would.

Toward the end of the first period, on the fourth possession, redshirt freshman Tobias Oliver entered the game, just as Johnson said he would.

But Marshall never got a chance to re-enter the game. Oliver played the rest of the way and led the Yellow Jackets to a 38-28 win over North Carolina.

So, who’s the starter going forward? That’s an interesting question that faces the club as it prepares for this week’s home contest against Miami.

“It was a gut thing, a feel thing,” Johnson said. “Probably the rest of the way that’s kind of what it’ll be like.”

Marshall did OK when he was in there. He rushed eight times for 61 yards and led the team to a touchdown on the first possession. He did not attempt a pass.

Oliver wasn’t as dominant as he was a week earlier against Virginia Tech where he rushed for 215 yards and was named ACC co-Rookie of the Week. But he ran 28 times for 120 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to Qua Searcy.

“I said we’ll play them until they don’t score,” Johnson said.

“(With Oliver) we weren’t scoring, but we weren’t punting either. We were driving the ball and taking it down the field and we’d turn it over. This game, with what they were doing and what we were running, he gave us the best chance. Now, next game it might be the other guy.”

Oliver said, “We started getting the momentum and scored twice. I thought maybe if I went a drive and something terrible happened or went a couple drives and we didn’t score, maybe he’d go back to TaQuon. But the offense kept the momentum.”

Johnson reiterated that Marshall had not committed some transgression.

“TaQuon went in and led us on a touchdown drive to start with,” Johnson said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. … Both these guys are ready and know what to do.”

Johnson is clearly growing more comfortable with Oliver’s progression. He expanded the playbook and added some options, something that he didn’t run against Virginia Tech. Oliver’s ability to run north and south was an advantage again, as was his low-pulse demeanor.

“He stays pretty calm … even keel,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t get too up or down. He just plays.”

And Oliver, who began the summer workouts as the third-string quarterback, isn’t going to rock the boat.

“It’s pretty evident I can get in there and play,” he said. “We’re at the point in the season where I don’t want to get into too much whether I should be the starter. I just want to win.”

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